Asma Jahangir: "Will Pakistan's Democracy Survive?"

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• published: 04 Nov 2009
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Open Society Institute and the Department of Legal Studies cordially invite you to the Fifth Marek Nowicki Memorial Lecture, delivered by the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, United Nations Commission on Human Rights Asma Jahangir: "Will Pakistan's Democracy Survive?" Welcome: Professor John Shattuck (President and Rector, CEU) Chair: Renata Uitz (Associate Professor/Chair, Comparative Constitutional Law Program, Department of Legal Studies) Opening Remarks: Wiktor Osiatynski (CEU University Professor) Introduction: Aryeh Neier (President, Open Society Institute) Marek Nowicki (19472003) studied nuclear physics in the 1960s, while passionately helping to popularize mountaineering among student groups in Poland. In the years 197281, Nowicki worked for the Mathematics and Physics Department of Warsaw University. In 1980 and 81, he was active in the Mazowsze chapter of the NSZZ Solidarnos´c´ movement. During martial law, Nowicki was detained by the Polish authorities. In December of 1982, Nowicki co-founded the underground Helsinki Committee of Poland. After the fall of Communism, the members of the Committee, under Nowickis leadership, established the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. The Foundation has flourished into one of the most active and experienced non-governmental organizations in Europe today. Nowicki presided over the organization until his premature death in 2003. Appointed an expert on human rights by the Polish parliament, Nowicki co-authored the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and helped shape the Polish Constitution. Nowicki wrote extensively on the history and the philosophy of human rights, he co-created documentaries and educational programs, and spoke passionately on rights and freedoms, thus contributing his expertise to numerous international organizations. He was instigator and supporter of human rights movements in authoritarian countries and new democracies—especially Poland and the other post-Soviet states. Until the end of his life, Nowicki continued to give lectures to audiences all over Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, where his character and charisma made him a trusted leader, and a symbol in the non-violent fight for individual rights and dignity. Asma Jahangir is an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and has been twice elected as Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. From 1998 to 2004 she also served as Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary or Summary Executions. She is also Co-Chair of South Asia for Human Rights since 2000, and the Director of the AGHS Legal Aid Cell, which provides free legal assistance to the needy. Jahangir was instrumental in the formation of the Punjab Women Lawyers Association in 1980 and the Womens Action Forum in 1985. She was placed under house arrest and later imprisoned for participating in the movement to restore political and fundamental rights under the military regime in 1983. Due to her efforts to secure justice for disadvantaged groups, she has been frequently threatened by militant groups. Asma Jahangir has authored two books and five papers. She has received honorary Doctor of Law degrees from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, Queens University, Canada, and Amherst College, USA. She has been the recipient of a number of international and national awards, among them the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1995. She served as a leading figure in the campaign waged by the women activists against the promulgation of the controversial Hadood Ordinances and draft law on evidence. Moreover, she has defended cases of discrimination against religious minorities, women and children. She represented several clients who were denied their fundamental rights. Notable amongst them are the cases she fought for brick kiln workers, who are mostly bonded labourers in Pakistan, and tried having legislation passed by the Parliament in favor of bonded workers.